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Oral History Interview with Bunichi Ohtsuka, November 8, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Bunichi Ohtsuka, November 8, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bunichi Ohtsuka. Ohtsuka begins by describing growing up in Japan in the 1930s. Then he describes military training in the Imperial Japanese Navy. He volunteered for service in the Navy in March, 1945. Ohtsuka recalls his military training school being bombed by the Americans. He also speaks about his impressions of the atomic bombs being dropped on Japan. Ohtsuka emigrated to the UNited States in 1967 to study English at the University of Texas.
Date: November 8, 2000
Creator: Ohtsuka, Bunichi
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with George Medcalf, December 27, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with George Medcalf, December 27, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George Medcalf. Medcalf grew up in Georgia and was drafted into the Army. Once he finished training, he departed on a ship to the North Atlantic. He was in the Second Infantry Division, 38th Regiment, Company C. He landed in Ireland, went to Wales, and then left for the invasion at Normandy. He landed on June 7, 1944. He describes advancing at Omaha Beach and confrontations with Germans. He continues advancing and assumes command when his superiors until he is injured by shrapnel. After four months in England, he returned to Belgium after the Battle of the Bulge. From Belgium, he went into Germany and then Czechoslovakia. Then the war ended, and he returned to the United States where he married his wife.
Date: December 27, 2000
Creator: Medcalf, George
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Paul E. Stevens, October 1, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Paul E. Stevens, October 1, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Paul F. Stevens. Stevens grew up in Missouri and participated in the college pilot training program. He joined the Navy in 1941. After training, he was assigned to the PBY-3. He was on a maneuver when a Morse code message came in that Oahu was being attacked. The next day he was part of a counter attack on the Japanese Fleet. Eventually he went to Perth, Australia and flew ""negative patrols."" In June 1943 he went up to Port Moresby. In November 1943, he returned to the U.S. and joined the Patrol Bomb Squadron 104 (VPB-104). He trained on the B-24 Liberator. He deployed to Morotai in November 1944. In December he moved to Tacloban, Leyte. He describes an attack on a Japanese force in Mindoro during December. In March 1945, Stevens is at Paul Field. He discusses two court martial proceedings related to his actions and shooting down Vice Admiral Yamagata. Later the admiral's granddaughter Myhoko Yamagata contacts Stevens.
Date: October 1, 2000
Creator: Stevens, Paul E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Lone Star Legacy Program: Marcia Howe Bratusek and Marcile Howe Harrison, October 22, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Lone Star Legacy Program: Marcia Howe Bratusek and Marcile Howe Harrison, October 22, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Marcia Howe Bratusek and Marcile Howe Harrison. Twins Bratusek and Harrison grew up in San Antonio, Texas and participated in the local committee called the National Defense Recreation and Service Committee of San Antonio (similar to the USO). Born in 1932, they were nine in 1941 and 13 in 1945. They took dance lessons and their mother made them costumes. Their costumes were bought in Mexico. They took classes from Bertha Almaguer. During the war, they performed dances for military men as frequently as three nights a week. They performed at different bases and mention Dodge Field near Fort Sam Houston. They also had three brothers in the military. They had their pictures in National Geographic magazine. They also visited the military hospitals.
Date: October 22, 2000
Creator: Bratusek, Marcia How & Harrison, Marcile Howe
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ned Smith, August 16, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Ned Smith, August 16, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ned Smith. Smith grew up in California, went to college in Idaho and California, and joined Naval Air in 1941. After training on the N3N's and the Stentson's, he was assigned to be a flight instructor. In 1943, he went to navigation school training, and then joined the VR-2 Naval Air Transport Squadron. He was flying in the Coronado PB2Y2's from Alameda, California all over the Pacific Theater. During the six weeks he was with VR-11, he flew R5D's. He discusses landing at Kwajalein, Majuro, and Johnston Island. He took prisoners of war back to the United States.
Date: August 16, 2000
Creator: Smith, Ned
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Henry Hise, September 30, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Henry Hise, September 30, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Henry Hise. Hise grew up in Texas and enlisted in the Navy in July 1941. He later joined the Marines. He was trained in dive bombers. Hise met Joe Foss during training at San Diego. In 1942 after training, he took the Hilo to Pearl Harbor. Hise flew out to the USS Hornet. He flew day and night intensively. He deployed on the USS Long Island to Guadalcanal. He describes an encounter with Melanesian cops. Next he describes the USS Hornet almost not recognizing two friendly ships. At Guadalcanal, he was hit by a vehicle and broke his pelvis. He was moved from Guadalcanal to Espiritu Santo. While in hospital, he met many men who were dying, including men burned by tannic acid after the sinking of the USS Wasp. He was moved by Dutch ship Japarra to the USS Solace, a hospital ship. From there, he went to Auckland, New Zealand. He went back to Guadalcanal to fly once recovered and then to the United States. He was redeployed twice. He went to fly strikes on Bougainville. He next flew initial strikes into Rabaul. He was stationed …
Date: September 30, 2000
Creator: Hise, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ruth Bennett, January 1, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Ruth Bennett, January 1, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ruth Bennett. Bennett grew up in Texas. She worked in Big Spring as a personnel secretary and married an officer in the Air Force.
Date: January 1, 2000
Creator: Bennett, Ruth
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Gerold (Jerry) Haynes, September 29, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Gerold (Jerry) Haynes, September 29, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Gerold (Jerry) Haynes. Haynes grew up in Mississippi and went to Memphis, Tennessee to join the Navy in 1939. He was assigned to the USS California and went to Pearl Harbor. The California was bombed December 7, 1941 during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Haynes describes the recovery efforts. In March 1942 he was reassigned to the USS Sante Fe (CL-60). He was on a 5 in/38 gun. He discusses sinking a ship in the San Bernadino Strait. In 1945, he rescued two survivors from the USS Franklin and received a citation. He describes the experience of pulling survivors from the ocean. NOTE: Haynes identified the USS Tingey (DDS-539) but the action described (Attu, Tarawa, USS Franklin rescue) supports the USS Santa Fe (CL-60).
Date: September 29, 2000
Creator: Haynes, Gerold (Jerry)
System: The Portal to Texas History
Presentation by Captain Forrest Biard: "Breaking the Japanese Codes and Decisive Results Pre-Pearl Harbor Through Midway" (open access)

Presentation by Captain Forrest Biard: "Breaking the Japanese Codes and Decisive Results Pre-Pearl Harbor Through Midway"

Transcript of a presentation by Forrest Biard. Biard grew up in Texas and attended the Naval Academy, graduating in 1934. Biard learned Japanese in Japan from 1939 to 1941. The training was rigorous. He describes interactions with the local women. Biard also traveled in Japan. He describes how sentiment gradually changed in Japan after the Japanese Army invaded China. He also describes how more and more Germans started traveling to Japan. Biard relates that the U.S. was warned that Japan would attack Pearl Harbor by the Peruvian ambassador but ignored it. He also mentions meeting Richard Sorge. He also talks about being followed everywhere by two plainclothes police officers, who at one point even searched his bags. He arrived in Pearl Harbor shortly before it was bombed. Biard was immediately assigned to be a cryptologist to break Japanese code under Commander Joe Rochefort, without any instruction. He describes working on breaking JN-25. He also identifies the 3 code-breaking sites as Washington DC, Corregidor, and Pearl Harbor. He describes in detail how many warnings and mistakes happened prior to Pearl Harbor. He was also on the USS Yorktown and describes difficulties when trying to warn Admiral Fletcher about an attack. Next, …
Date: June 14, 2000
Creator: Biard, Forrest
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Charles Scheffel, May 10, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Charles Scheffel, May 10, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Scheffel. Scheffel grew up in Oklahoma and enlisted in the Army ROTC in 1940. He was called up in 1941 after Pearl Harbor. He was allowed to finish out his senior year of college and was married in March 1942. He embarked on the Queen Elizabeth from New Jersey in September 1942. As leader of 200 men, he landed in Scotland and drove with them to Whittington Barracks where they joined with the British 51st Highlanders. He lists the three main survival lessons he learned from the seasoned English soldiers: having a batman to back you up, digging a two-man foxhole, and waiting for the ""crack and thump."" Scheffel how the ""crack and thump"" lesson would later save his life when he was seriously wounded when attacking the Siegfried Line. From England he went to Algeria with the British troops on the Scythia. The ship is torpedoed off the coast limps into Algiers. Scheffel made the decision to leave the British Highlanders and join up with American 9th Division in February 1943. The division went into Tunisia. Then he was sent to spend another month with the …
Date: May 10, 2000
Creator: Scheffel, Charles
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Cornelius D. Wiens, November 26, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Cornelius D. Wiens, November 26, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Cornelius D. Wiens. Wiens grew up in Montana and Kansas and was drafted into the Army in 1944. After completing training, he departed about the Sea Snipe for the Philippines. His first landing was at Leyte, where he remained fighting for three months. He describes coming to land on the small landing craft. From Leyte he went to Negros, then Masbate, and finally Mindanao. He describes the Japanese soldiers who were unwilling to surrender. After Japan's surrender he also spent time in Korea as a radio operator.
Date: November 26, 2000
Creator: Wiens, Cornelius D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Orland J. ""Bud"" Harris, August 22, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Orland J. ""Bud"" Harris, August 22, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Orland Harris. Harris went to Santa Anna, California for Aviation Cadet training in the Army Air Corps in 1942. He went to primary flying school in Visalia, California and then went to LaeMoore, California for more training. From there he went to replacement training units, flying the P-38, P-322 and P-39. Harris had take civilian pilot training for one year at college before he went into the service. He received his wings at Williams Field in Arizona 3 Nov 1943 and became an officer that day. He went to the South Pacific in a C-54, along wih about 30 other pilots, ending up in Nadzab, New Guinea with the 8th Fighter Group (part of the 5th Air Force). His P-38 missions included targets of opportunity around New Guinea, a cave on Corregidor and straffed ships on the way to Borneo, and the Philippines. Normally they flew cover missions for B-17s and B-24s but on occasion covered B-25s and A-20s. Harris was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) when he was flying out of Mindoro in the Philippines on a night mission (26 Dec 1944) attacking a Japanese task …
Date: August 22, 2000
Creator: Harris, Orland J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Francis R. Ferry, September 30, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Francis R. Ferry, September 30, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Francis R. Ferry. Ferry grew up in Nebraska and taught for a year before joining the Navy in 1942. He had enrolled in the Civilian Pilot Training Program prior to enlisting. He trained on the N3N, the SNJ, the OS2U, the BT, the SBC3 and other types of aircraft. He was assigned to be a dive-bomber, flying the SB2C Helldiver. Ferry was initially assigned to VB-14 and left aboard the USS Wasp to the coast of Venezuela where he continued training. He was reassigned to VB-82 and left on the USS Bennington (CV-20) for Pearl Harbor. The ship joined Task Force 58.1 for Japan. He flew his first combat mission over Tokyo. He was involved with burning the beaches on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He then was involved in the attack on the Japanese ship Yamato. His air group was the lead group in on the first strike, and Ferry himself dropped rockets and bombs that may have been hits. His wife Genevieve Ferry briefly discusses what her experiences were on the homefront.
Date: September 30, 2000
Creator: Ferry, Francis R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with R. Bruce Porter, September 30, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with R. Bruce Porter, September 30, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with R. Bruce Porter. After a few years of college at the University of Southern California, Porter joined the Marines as an aviation cadet. After training on the F4F, Porter was assigned to Squadron 111 and shipped out on the USS Garfield to American Samoa. Porter mentions training with and talking with Joe Foss when his squadron passed through Apia. Porter then went to Turtle Bay, New Caledonia. He next flew F4F's in Guadalcanal in 1943. Their squadron then switched to the Corsair plane. Porter then started moving ""up the slot"" toward Japan gradually moving north with his squadron. Later, Porter returned to the states to train on F6F's and joined a night fighter squadron. He was assigned as a squadron commander in Okinawa. He discusses blowing up a plane with a ""baka"" bomb on it. Porter's record is an ace, with five official kills and one probable. Porter witnessed the surrender party preparing for the official surrender. He stayed in Japan for four months after the occupation.
Date: September 30, 2000
Creator: Porter, R. Bruce
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Arwin Bowden, September 9, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Arwin Bowden, September 9, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Arwin Bowden. He begins by discussing his training in San Diego and New Zealand before the Battle of Tarawa. He describes being wounded in the battle, the casualties he saw and being shipped back to Pearl Harbor for treatment, then joining the battle of Saipan. He ancedotes about Japanese killing themselves rather than surrendering, eating food from a garden watered from rainwater running down from outhouses, the wages he made and the time he had leave.
Date: September 9, 2000
Creator: Bowden, Arwin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with John Reas, November 17, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with John Reas, November 17, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Reas. Reas grew up in Indiana and Ohio and enlisted in the Navy in 1938. After training, he boarded the USS Houston (CA-30) at Charleston, South Carolina. He was assigned to the aviation unit. On February 28, 1942, he survived the bombing and sinking of the ship. He and other survivors in life rafts were picked up by the Japanese the next day and taken to Java as a prisoner of war. He was taken to a ship and then back to an island, where he met survivors of the Australian ship HMAS Perth (D29). They were moved from Serang to Batavia. He was told to record the POW's occupations and those idenitified as skilled were sent to Japan. Inspired by this, he kept a detailed and complete list of the survivors that he kept hidden. From Java, the survivors are put on a cargo ship to Singapore. Then they went to Pynang by train. He then boarded another ship to Burma. Allied forces bombed a ship next to Reas. He describes living in bamboo huts while building the railroad. During one of the routine abuses in …
Date: November 17, 2000
Creator: Reas, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Harold Buell, September 30, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Harold Buell, September 30, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harold Buell. While attending college in Iowa, Buell took advantage of the Civilian Pilot Training program and earned a pilot's license in 1940. He volunteered for the Navy and went to flight school at Pensacola, Florida, where he earned his wings and a commission in November, 1941. He was assigned to go aboard the USS Yorktown (CV-5) as a member of Scouting Squadron 5 (VS-5) and arrived in time for the Battle of the Coral Sea. His squadron suffered enough damage to be removed from the Yorktown prior to the Battle of Midway. Buell was assigned to the USS Saratoga (CV-3) and flew search and rescue missions from her during the Battle of Midway. After that battle, Buell was transferred to yet another carrier, the USS Enterprise (CV-6), prior to the invasion of Guadalcanal. While flying off the Enterprise, Buell and ten other pilots had to land on Guadalcanal at Henderson Field. They and their dive bombers then became members of the Cactus Air Force. Buell describes the living conditions on Guadalcanal as opposed to those aboard an aircraft carrier. His group finally got off Guadalcanal and returned …
Date: September 30, 2000
Creator: Buell, Harold
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Thomas Moorer, October 1, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Thomas Moorer, October 1, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas Moorer. Moorer grew up in Alabama and received a principal appointment to the Naval Academy in 1929. He shipped out on the USS Enterprise (CV-6) after going into aviation training in 1935. He flew the PBY. After World War II starts, in the Pacific Ocean near Australia, during a reconnaissance mission, he was shot down by the Japanese and managed to get himself and his seven crewmates all out alive. Then the ship he was rescued onto was shot again, and he again rescued six of his original crew and 40 more from the ship. They were beached on a small island and rescued by an Australian plane. From Darwin they went to Perth. After the Battle of Midway, Moorer was transferred to Africa. He discusses the attack on Pearl Harbor. While in the Pacific, he was sent by General Douglas MacArthur to pick up stranded Australian Green Berets on Timor. Macarthur met and spoke with Moorer about traveling to pick the men up. He also encountered MacArthur when MacArthur went to Japan as controller of the occupation, after Moorer was selected to command the Seventh Fleet.
Date: October 1, 2000
Creator: Moorer, Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ethel Blaine, April 24, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Ethel Blaine, April 24, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ethel ""Sally"" Blaine Millett. Millett grew up in Missouri and went to nurses training in San Diego, California. She volunteered for the Philippines in 1941. She witnessed the bombing at Clark Field. She took care of the soldiers wounded by Japanese strafing. When the bombing got too bad, the nurses left Statsenberg for Manila. Because of continued Japanese bombing all over the Philippines, the nurses had to keep moving as the hospitals moved. She describes having malaria and then having to evacuate from Bataan to Corregidor. Then they went to Mindanao where they were formally captured by the Japanese. They were moved to Davao and then to Santo Tomas. She describes losing her possessions. She describes life in the internment camp: the food, the work required, the sanitary conditions, the self-government, the birthrate, and the entertainment. Millett has to have an operation while at Santo Tomas. She also describes executions. Finally, the American soldiers arrived, and she took a plane home in February 1945. Her brother met her in San Francisco.
Date: April 24, 2000
Creator: Millett, Ethel Blaine
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Jack Kleiss, September 29, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Jack Kleiss, September 29, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Kleiss. Kleiss discusses training for carrier landings on USS Enterprise; the arrival of VMF-211 aboard Enterprise and their delivery to Wake Island; and the attack on Pealr Harbor on 7 December 1941. Kleiss was in a dive bomber and attacked Japanese carriers at the Battle of Midway, where he earned the Navy Cross.
Date: September 29, 2000
Creator: Kleiss, Jack
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with W. G. (Bill) Campbell, April 21, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with W. G. (Bill) Campbell, April 21, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with W. G. (Bill) Campbell. Campbell grew up in Texas, attended Texas A&M, and married in 1939 before joining the Army in 1943. After training, he went to Australia, Dutch New Guinea, Palu, Leyte, and Mindanao. He describes riding in amphibious vehicles and interacting with the natives. He discusses various illnesses he had during the war and his interactions with his brother, an engineer. He also describes surveying work in some detail. After the war, Campbell eventually became a public school teacher.
Date: April 21, 2000
Creator: Campbell, W. G. (Bill)
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Anne Sloan, September 11, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Anne Sloan, September 11, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Anne Sloan. Sloan grew up in Oregon and joined the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in 1944. She spent time at Fort Des Moines, Iowa; Plattsburgh, New York; Camp Davis, North Carolina; Lexington, Virginia; and San Antonio, Texas before she left the service in 1946. She was at Times Square, New York City on V-E Day. After the service, she used the GI Bill to attend the University of Texas at Austin, where she met her husband. She later became a teacher.
Date: September 11, 2000
Creator: Sloan, Anne
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Dwight Pendleberry, June 21, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Dwight Pendleberry, June 21, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dwight Pendleberry. Pendleberry joined the Army with his brother prior to the outbreak of war with Japan. After training as an ordnance man in the artillery, Pendleberry's company was sent to the Philippines in September, 1941. Pendleberry describes the Japanese attack on the Philippines and the subsequent fall of Bataan. He escaped to Corregidor with a few other people only to be captured there one month later. After being taken to Manila, Pendleberry was sent to Cabanatuan. By that time, he had contracted malaria. From there, he was selected to be on a work detail loading and unloading Japanese ships in Manila. Pendleberry also describes executions, genral mistreatment and outright torture at the hands of the Japanese captors. Eventually, Pendleberry and many other POWs were shipped aboard the Noto Maru to Taiwan, then Japan. Pendleberry wound up at Omori prison camp in Tokyo Bay. He describes the low-level fire bombing mission over Tokyo, which took place one night in March, 1945. After that, Pendleberry was moved to northern Japan to work at a coal mine. After the war, Pendleberry was liberated and repatriated back to the US through …
Date: June 21, 2000
Creator: Pendleberry, Dwight
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Bill Brown, June 26, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Bill Brown, June 26, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Brown. Brown was studying at the University of Texas at El Paso whe nhe joined the Army Air Force in 1942. Brown discusses his flight training, which occurred throughout Texas. With training cmplete, Brown was sent to Hawaii where he continued training with the 45th Fighter Squadron, 7th Air Force. Soon his unit was shipped to Iwo Jima where they flew bomber escort for bombing missions over the home islands of Japan. Brown was shot down over Yokahama and bailed out over the Tokyo Bay, where he was resuced by the USS Pipefish (SS-388). Brown was taken to Hawaii to recover and was eventually shipped back to the US, where he was discharged in September, 1945.
Date: June 26, 2000
Creator: Brown, Bill
System: The Portal to Texas History